<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>A:TLA Shorts - June 2020 by RobinPlaysTrumpet15</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24557296">A:TLA Shorts - June 2020</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/RobinPlaysTrumpet15/pseuds/RobinPlaysTrumpet15'>RobinPlaysTrumpet15</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, Big Brother Sokka (Avatar), Dreams and Nightmares, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Forgiveness, Gen, Hugs, Iroh (Avatar) loves Tea, Nightmares, Prompt Fill, Protective Sokka (Avatar), Shorts, Sweet, do not copy to another site, one shots</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 02:15:37</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,558</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24557296</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/RobinPlaysTrumpet15/pseuds/RobinPlaysTrumpet15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Shorts and one shots prompted by my brother.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aang &amp; Sokka (Avatar), Iroh &amp; Zuko (Avatar), Katara &amp; Zuko (Avatar)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>59</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. "Are you okay with having blood on your hands?"</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Aang hadn’t really… <i>thought</i> about what he would do once he faced the Firelord. He knew he’d have to. He knew they’d fight. He knew that Ozai was a powerful bender and if Aang had any hope of winning, he’d have to get better than he was now.</p>
<p>But none of that changed the fact that he’d neglected to think about what happened <i>after</i>.</p>
<p>What he’d have to <i>do</i> to ensure the end of the war.</p>
<p>Only now did he realize everyone expected him to-</p>
<p>To <i>kill</i> the Firelord.</p>
<p>And no one else seemed concerned over it. They didn’t seem to care.</p>
<p>He stares at them, disbelieving.</p>
<p>Didn’t they understand his position in this? How can they not know where Aang stands on this topic?</p>
<p>Aang’s never killed someone before, and he didn’t intend to start now.</p>
<p>His friends stare back at him. He can’t quite decipher the looks in their eyes.</p>
<p>He swallows dryly.</p>
<p>“Are you- <i>okay</i> with having blood on your hands?” he asks.</p>
<p>He didn’t mean to sound so defeated. He didn’t mean for his voice to crack on the words.</p>
<p>No one would meet his eyes. They look away, visibly uncomfortable. Only Zuko finally looks back at him, a hard look in his expression.</p>
<p>“Sometimes… It’s for the best, Aang.”</p>
<p>Aang’s vision blurs suddenly. He shakes his head, the motion jerking and involuntary.</p>
<p>He couldn’t do it. He <i>wouldn’t</i> do it.</p>
<p>He’d find a way - some <i>other way</i> - to end this.</p>
<p>Even if his friends wouldn’t help him.</p>
<p>He leaves, trying not to feel like he was running away again.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. "If I told you I still kinda hate you, what would you do?"</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Katara sighed into the dim field. The fire was burning low, and all she could hear was the soft breathing of her friends and family.</p>
<p>It really felt like old times tonight. As if the “old times” were any more than half a year ago.</p>
<p>A year on the run had passed quickly, but oh so slowly, too. In the blink of an eye, they were fighting for the lives in a final showdown, but it felt like just yesterday, she and Aang were learning new waterbending techniques with a stolen scroll.</p>
<p>Half a year of living - of <i>growing</i> like a normal kid - was out of place and weird in her life. She hadn’t gotten to be a kid for years, even before Aang showed up.</p>
<p>It was taking a toll on all of them.</p>
<p>So there they were, staying out in sleeping bags and tents under the stars, as if there was nothing else they needed to worry about than getting to their next destination.</p>
<p>If only she could actually sleep.</p>
<p>Katara sat a little apart from the others, hunched over and looking at the stars. Staring at the moon and feeling its presence and power within her. It was comforting. Always had been.</p>
<p>Movement startled her out of her thoughts.</p>
<p>Zuko was up, approaching steadily on soundless feet. His hair was even longer now, let out of the bun he kept it in.</p>
<p>Once upon a time, the sight of him made her scared. Then it made her angry.</p>
<p>Now…</p>
<p>They were friends. She wasn’t hesitant to admit that. They’d gone through a lot together by now, and she knew he changed. She knew he wasn’t the person who’d come into her village a year and a half ago, demanding the Avatar.</p>
<p>But sometimes, when he was stuck in her thoughts, the sight of him made her sad.</p>
<p>Because-</p>
<p>Zuko sat down next to her.</p>
<p>“Can’t sleep?” he asked, resting back on his hands.</p>
<p>She sighed, nodded, and kept her eyes on the grass.</p>
<p>“Something on your mind?”</p>
<p>“You could say that…” Katara admitted.</p>
<p>Zuko didn’t press the issue. He accepted her answer and remained silent, joining the quiet of the dead of night and the gentle breathing of their friends.</p>
<p>He would wait, she knew, for her to be ready to talk. If she wanted to talk. And she didn’t have to.</p>
<p>Zuko was good at listening, surprisingly.</p>
<p>Katara figured she’d run from this long enough.</p>
<p>“If I told you I still- <i>kinda</i> hate you… What would you do?” she breathed, clenching her eyes closed and blocking out the world.</p>
<p>Zuko hummed briefly, and shifted into a slightly more comfortable position.</p>
<p>“I’d say that was your right. You’re entitled to those feelings.”</p>
<p>She swallowed.</p>
<p>“And- what if I’m <i>tired</i> of hating you? What if I just… want to let go, and move on? Like everyone else?”</p>
<p>She curled into herself, wrapping her arms around her knees.</p>
<p>“Aang did say that forgiveness is hard,” Zuko said. His voice was gentle. Katara wasn’t sure she’d ever get used to the idea of Zuko being <i>gentle</i>.</p>
<p>But his words did pull a sad smile onto her face.</p>
<p>“Yeah,” she said, noticing the tears that sprang to her eyes. “He did.”</p>
<p>“But forgiveness is still your choice, you know?” the young Firelord continued. “You don’t have to forgive me. Honestly, I don’t think I would either. I don’t. You’re allowed to be upset about the things that hurt you.</p>
<p>“But…” Zuko paused. “Forgiveness does feel good, in the end. It’s hard. But you’ll feel better, one day.”</p>
<p>Katara let out a shaky breath. She turned to look at Zuko - her <i>friend</i> - and smiled. The tears fell down her cheeks slowly.</p>
<p>She moved from her spot, uncurling and shifting, to wrap Zuko in a hug.</p>
<p>He hugged her back, gentle and careful and everything she’d once thought he could never be.</p>
<p>“I do forgive you.”</p>
<p>His arms tightened around her. She hugged him back even harder.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Making their favorite meal when they're having a hard day</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>It's not really a <i>meal</i>... but that's okay.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <i>Leaves from the vine,</i>
  <br/>
  <i>Falling so slow</i>
  <br/>
  <i>Like fragile, tiny shells,</i>
  <br/>
  <i>Drifting in the foam.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>Little soldier boy</i>
  <br/>
  <i>Come marching home</i>
  <br/>
  <i>Brave soldier boy</i>
  <br/>
  <i>Comes marching home</i>
</p>
<p>Iroh couldn’t keep the tears off his face, walking back through Ba Sing Se. Back towards home.</p>
<p>He’d never have thought, once upon a time, that the capital of the Earth Kingdom would be his home. It was more home than the palace he’d been raised in had ever been, despite everything.</p>
<p>Closer to the shop, people began to recognize him, and call out to him. They smiled and waved and offered a sincere hug or two. He returned them all, despite the heavy feeling weighing in his heart.</p>
<p>This day was always hard. It came around every year, and it was still hard.</p>
<p>The tea shop wasn’t open today. Maybe he would open it for a little while later, for the evening. But that was a later thing.</p>
<p>His house wasn’t far from the shop, but he wouldn’t go back quite yet. It was too quiet and empty, sometimes.</p>
<p>Against his expectations, however, the shop wasn’t empty.</p>
<p>There was noise in the back - just one person, moving around.</p>
<p>Iroh thought briefly that someone had made the poor decision to attempt to rob him while he was away. But as he crept closer to the back room, hands raised and breath controlled, he recognized the voice.</p>
<p>A voice he would know anywhere, and sounded so much like his own son.</p>
<p>“Zuko?” he said, rounding the corner to stand in the open doorway.</p>
<p>Zuko turned, quick as ever, with a briefly startled expression. His hair was down and long, shaggy as it always was now, and he was dressed in the muted green and yellow-brown tones he wore when he visited from the Fire Nation.</p>
<p>Then the surprise was gone, replaced by a warm, happy smile.</p>
<p>“Hi, Uncle.”</p>
<p>Iroh laughed, moving forward to hug his nephew and greet him properly.</p>
<p>“What are you doing here?” he asked, pulling away. “Your visit isn’t until next month!”</p>
<p>The teenager smiled. “I moved it up a bit. I missed you too much.”</p>
<p>And- oh, the tears were back.</p>
<p>“And I made you something,” Zuko said, turning back around. He finished his work, organizing a few things on a tray, before he turned around with it held in his hands.</p>
<p>“White dragon tea,” he announced, happily. “I’m not as good as you, but I hope I didn’t totally butcher it this time.”</p>
<p>Iroh smiled on a laugh, feeling the tears fall. He brushed them away with his sleeve.</p>
<p>“Your skills have grown, nephew,” he began. “I’m sure that it is delicious. It is one of my favorites, after all.”</p>
<p>“I know, Uncle,” Zuko said, following Iroh out of the back room.</p>
<p>They sat at a table together and talked, forgetting to open the shop for the evening.</p>
<p>The tea was wonderful.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Calming them down when they have a bad dream</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Nothing could wake Sokka up quite the same way that terrified screams and yells could. Specifically, the kind that came from bad dreams and nightmares.</p>
<p>Katara had been having nightmares for years, and after their dad left, he was the one to comfort his baby sister. Gran-Gran could help, and she did often, but Sokka was the first one awake. He was the one to wake his sister when the dreams scared her too much.</p>
<p>Even the smallest sounds could get him out of a dead sleep, when it came to his sister and nightmares.</p>
<p>So when it was three days until the invasion, and a gasp of fear split the night, he was up in a flash.</p>
<p>Aang was sitting up, chest heaving with hyperventilated breaths.</p>
<p>It wasn’t Katara, it seemed. But that mattered little when Sokka recognized the frightened, near-crazed look in Aang’s eyes, even in the dark.</p>
<p>“Aang?” he sighed, forcing his eyes open. Sleep pulled at him, but he wouldn’t be able to rest now. Not until this was taken care of.</p>
<p>“Sokka, I-” Aang said, beginning to stand. “I’m fine. Go back to sleep.”</p>
<p>Well, that was a load of sealion crap.</p>
<p>“Yeah, no,” he said, pushing himself from his sleeping bag. “You’re not.”</p>
<p>Aang paused, looking at him with gray eyes marred by dark circles.</p>
<p>“This is the second night it’s happened. You need to rest, regardless of the invasion. So talk to me.”</p>
<p>Aang shook his head.</p>
<p>“No, I-” He stepped away. “I just need to train. That’s all.”</p>
<p>Sokka frowned as Aang began to walk away.</p>
<p>He followed, powering his way closer until he could grab the airbender’s arm.</p>
<p>“No,” Sokka said. “You’re not training right now. You’re going to talk to me and try to get some sleep.”</p>
<p>“But the nightmares-”</p>
<p>“If you talk about it, they might not be so bad.”</p>
<p>Aang looked up at him helplessly. Sokka thought in the moonlight, the boy’s eyes looked almost blue-ish.</p>
<p>“I’m tired, Sokka…”</p>
<p>“I know.” He pulled Aang closer to hug him. “Lay down with me. Maybe you just need to not sleep alone.”</p>
<p>Aang hesitated, then nodded, as if he was already falling asleep.</p>
<p>Sokka led him back over to his bedroll. It wouldn’t hit them both, which was fine. Sokka had made do sharing with Katara, even once they got bigger. He could share with his pseudo brother for the night.</p>
<p>It was obvious Aang very rarely slept with or near another person. When they lay down together, he seemed almost unsure where to put himself. Sokka, on the other hand, was more than used to this. He nudged Aang into a comfortable position, tucked into his side with an arm around the twelve-year-old.</p>
<p>“Do you want to talk about it?” Sokka asked quietly into the night air once Aang stopped feeling quite so stiff.</p>
<p>Aang went to shrug, jostling Sokka a little bit.</p>
<p>“I dunno…” he sighed. “I just- I’m going to have to face him, and… I don’t know that I can.”</p>
<p>Sokka didn’t know what to say for a moment. He knew what he’d <i>usually</i> say, sounding incredibly confident and maybe a little too idealistic. He’d claim that Aang was gonna be <i>fine</i> and that he could whup the Firelord’s butt any day of the week with his hands tied behind his back.</p>
<p>But he also knew that wouldn’t be helpful today. It would just add to Aang’s fears and insecurities and potentially make his nightmares worse.</p>
<p>Sokka wasn’t looking to make this worse than it already was.</p>
<p>“If there was any way I could help you in this, I would,” he said, quietly. “It’s hard, I’m sure. I can’t know what you’re going through, Aang. But we’ll be here for you any time you need us.</p>
<p>“And if I could make this easier for you at all, I would. Trust me, I would…”</p>
<p>Aang shuffled closer into Sokka, tightening the arm he curled around the teenager’s waist.</p>
<p>“I know, Sokka…” Aang said on his own sigh. “Thanks…”</p>
<p>Sokka was tired, but he wasn’t sure he would sleep tonight either.</p>
<p>“Try and get some sleep, Aang,” he said. “I’ll be here.”</p>
<p>The twelve-year-old Avatar settled into him comfortably as his breath began to even out.</p>
<p>“I promise.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. "Do you hate me?"</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Do you hate me?”</p>
<p>It’s the first thing she says when Zuko enters the cell. It’s been weeks since the war ended, since Zuko was crowned Firelord. This is the first time he’s been to see her.</p>
<p>He hadn’t <i>wanted</i> to see her.</p>
<p>He hadn’t quite figured why she’d asked for his presence.</p>
<p>He doesn’t know what to say to her.</p>
<p>“Do <i>you</i> hate <i>me</i>?” he counters, unthinking.</p>
<p>Azula had always found ways to wriggle under his skin.</p>
<p>“Would you like the truth?” she asks, not looking at him.</p>
<p>Zuko frowns.</p>
<p>“Yes, for once in your life.”</p>
<p>His sister is silent for a moment.</p>
<p>“No,” she sighs, quieter than he’s ever heard her. “I don’t.”</p>
<p>Zuko swallows. He hadn’t actually expected that answer.</p>
<p>He turns, aiming to leave.</p>
<p>He pauses at the door.</p>
<p>“I don’t think I hate you, either,” he says.</p>
<p>Then he leaves.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. "When you fall, I'll always be right there to catch you."</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Aang was falling.</p>
<p>He was falling and he was panicking and he couldn’t <i>think</i>-</p>
<p>He had to do something! He needed his staff, or an air current, or some water, or <i>something</i>!</p>
<p>But he couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t think to move his hands and take control. He just kept spiralling downwards, the ground getting closer and closer and closer-</p>
<p>Something large and fuzzy streaked beneath him. A firm hand grabbed his wrist, jolting him and tugging him along.</p>
<p>The weightless feeling in his stomach disappeared as he felt jerked backwards, changing directions.</p>
<p>Arms wrapped around him, tugging him into a firm chest covered by deep blue fabric.</p>
<p>Aang still couldn’t breathe.</p>
<p>“I’ve got you,” Sokka’s voice said near his ear. “I’ve got you, I’ve got you, I’ve got you…”</p>
<p>“Sokka?” he wheezed. The words tore at his dry throat, shooting piercing pain through his heaving lungs.</p>
<p>“Yeah, it’s me,” Sokka sighed. “We’re here.”</p>
<p>The teenager pulled away slightly, looking down at Aang with red-rimmed blue eyes.</p>
<p>“You scared us, Aang.”</p>
<p>He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t what he <i>could</i> say - <i>if</i> he could say anything at all.</p>
<p>His chest hurt. His limbs were heavy. His head was fuzzy.</p>
<p>He couldn’t quite remember why he’d been falling in the first place.</p>
<p>“Sokka…” The whine left his mouth before he could even think to stop it.</p>
<p>Sokka pulled him into his arms even tighter than before.</p>
<p>“When you fall, I’ll always be here to catch you.” Sokka sniffled, pressing his cheek against Aang’s short hair. “We all will be.”</p>
<p>Aang let himself relax in Sokka’s arms as three other bodies joined their hug - two about his size and one small and furry.</p>
<p>His chest still hurt, but it was easier to breathe.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thanks for reading! If you have any prompts, I'd love to hear them!</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>